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quilt

[kwilt]
See more synonyms for quilt on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting.
  2. anything quilted or resembling a quilt.
  3. a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.
  4. Obsolete. a mattress.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.
  2. to sew up between pieces of material.
  3. to pad or line with material.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to make quilts or quilted work.
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Origin of quilt

1250–1300; Middle English quilte < Old French cuilte < Latin culcita mattress, cushion
Related formsquilt·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for quilt

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Pinckney didn't punch the mattress or turn up his nose at the quilt patterns.

    Shorty McCabe

    Sewell Ford

  • "Give her another blanket or quilt, then," said her husband.

    The Carpenter's Daughter

    Anna Bartlett Warner

  • Quilt and cushions were pushed into a corner for later airing.

    The Dragon Painter

    Mary McNeil Fenollosa

  • She put the orphan at the foot of the bunk, drew the quilt over it and set to work.

    The Wrong Woman

    Charles D. Stewart

  • She opened the lid of her chest and brought out a quilt, then another, and another.

    Patchwork

    Anna Balmer Myers

British Dictionary definitions for quilt

quilt

noun
  1. a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams
  2. a bedspread or counterpane
  3. anything quilted or resembling a quilt
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verb (tr)
  1. to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between themto quilt cotton and wool
  2. to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way
  3. to pad with material
  4. Australian informal to strike; clout
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Derived Formsquilter, noun

Word Origin

C13: from Old French coilte mattress, from Latin culcita stuffed item of bedding
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quilt

n.

c.1300, "mattress with soft lining," from Anglo-French quilte, Old French cuilte, coute "quilt, mattress" (12c.), from Latin culcita "mattress, bolster," of unknown origin. Sense of "thick outer bed covering" is first recorded 1590s.

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v.

1550s, from quilt (n.). Related: Quilted; quilting. Quilting bee attested from 1824 (see bee).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper